The White Sox activated Jose Abreu from the disabled list for Monday night's game against the Kansas City Royals.
The Sox's first baseman and best hitter hasn't played since Aug. 20, and his three-week-long absence opened the door for Nicky Delmonico, Matt Davidson and Daniel Palka to get more consistent playing time.
With Abreu back, one of these guys is likely to sit more often. It's probably going to be Delmonico, who hasn't done enough this season to make his 2017 success seem like anything more than a fluke.
I was reminded of what a rough time Delmonico has been having as I watched Sunday's game, a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels that capped a gloomy 3-7 homestand for the Sox.
Delmonico was summoned to pinch hit for Ryan LaMarre with runners at the corners and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Angels manager Mike Scioscia made an unorthodox countermove, knowing the Sox had no right-handed hitters left on the bench. He pulled his closer -- right-hander Blake Parker -- and replaced him with left-hander Jose Alvarez, who did not have a single save all season.
Well, Alvarez has one save now after striking out Delmonico on five pitches -- all of them breaking balls. The first two pitches were both hangers, begging to be hit hard somewhere, if not into the seats. Despite the lefty-lefty matchup, Delmonico had a great chance to be a hero, but he fouled off both hangers and dug himself an 0-2 hole in the count that he never recovered from.
Missed opportunities have become a trend for Delmonico, as he's been a combination of injured and bad throughout the 2018 season. His season statistics are lingering behind those of Davidson and the surprising Palka, who was an afterthought coming out of spring training.
Delmonico: .215/.301/.389, 8 HRs, 24 RBIs, 11 2Bs, 4 3Bs in 279 ABs
Davidson: .235/.330/.451, 20 HRs, 58 RBIs, 22 2Bs, 0 3Bs in 436 ABs
Palka: .237/.285/.469, 21 HRs, 55 RBIs, 14 2Bs, 3 3Bs, in 382 ABs
None of these three players provide much in the way of defensive utility. Both Delmonico and Palka are substandard corner outfielders. At least Palka has enough arm to play both left and right field. Delmonico never moves off left field, other than the occasional appearance at first base. Davidson is a below-average defender at both corner infield positions.
In short, all three of these men need to hit to justify their roster spots. Davidson and Palka both are flawed players, but they have brought more to the table offensively than Delmonico this season. Palka has the highest batting average and slugging percentage. He has hit a team-best six home runs in the ninth inning. Davidson has the highest on-base percentage. Both Palka and Davidson are challenging Abreu (22 HRs) for the team's home run lead.
Granted, Delmonico has had fewer at-bats -- a broken bone in his hand earlier in the season limited his playing time. But his production just wouldn't compare even if you gave him another 100 to 150 at-bats or so to bring him equal with the opportunities Palka and Davidson have had.
I do not see a roster spot available in 2019 for Delmonico. He can't make the team ahead of other fringe guys such as Davidson and Palka, and with Eloy Jimenez on the horizon and Abreu and Avisail Garcia both likely to return next season, it's looking as though there aren't any more spots for corner outfielders and 1B/DH types, especially ones that can't punish a hanging slider with the game on the line.
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